Guns, mental health, and school safety focus of Connecticut General Assembly

Democratic State Representative Steve Dargan of West Haven, Conn., who wants to make names of Connecticut Pistol Permit holders public information, applauds before Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy gives the 2013 State of the State Address in the Hall of the House at the State Capitol Tuesday, January 09, 2013 in Hartford, Connecticut. Photo by Peter Hvizdak / New Haven Register

HARTFORD - General Assembly leadership is predicting fast action on gun legislation, mental health funds and school safety enhancements by the end of February as they look for consensus on bills that arise out of the tragedy of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.

They are looking at requiring permits for firearms beyond handguns, background checks for purchase of ammunition and workmen's compensation for the first responders traumatized by the slaying of 20 children and six staff members at the school on Dec. 14.

While the assembly is not known for fast action, House Speaker Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, said there is an urgency to get something accomplished and a bipartisan desire to do it.

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Gov. Dannel P. Malloy delivered his state of the state address Wednesday on the opening day of the six-month legislative session and choked up at the first mention of the Sandy Hook tragedy.

The governor attended the majority of funerals of victims and meeting the needs of families and the Newtown community has been the top priority of state government in the last month.

Adam Lanza, 20, blasted his way into the school with a semi-automatic Bushmaster .223 caliber AR-15 rifle and systematically mowed down a group of first-graders, administrators and teachers before killing himself.

The investigation of his motives is expected to take two or three more months.

Democratic and Republican leaders had a briefing this week with state police to discuss the issue of guns and the current laws and they agreed to an expedited process to handle legislation in a year that will also have to deal with a projected $1 billion deficit.

House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero, R-Norwalk, who is also considering a run for governor, said the state can be a model for legislation.

"The incident that rang through the world happened here in Connecticut and we are going to deal with it one way or the other," Cafero said. "I hope Washington is not only watching what we do, but how we do it."

The mandate to move expeditiously was mentioned by several lawmakers.

"We have every incentive to move quickly," said state Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney, D-New Haven.

"I think we need to seriously look at expanding the regulatory environment to include long guns in terms of background checks, in terms of licensing," as well as empowering local and state police on conducting those background checks for buyers and sellers, Sharkey said.

"Most people don't realize that the gun used in the mass shooting did not require a permit," said state Rep. Gerald Fox, D-Stamford, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

Sharkey said he is not sure that the specific rifle used by Lanza would be added to the list of banned weapons in Connecticut and the state might instead define these firearms by general characteristics.

Robert Crook, who heads the Coalition of Connecticut Sportsmen, said only police, members of the armed forces, those who already have pistol permits and persons with hunting permits can buy long guns, all of whom already get background checks. For those without any of those credentials, there is 2-week waiting period, during which a background check is done, he said.

"There is no good reason for another permit," Crook said. He also was critical of the membership of Malloy's Sandy Hook Advisory Committee. "There is no one on there that knows the intricacies of the gun laws in the state," he said.

The membership is heavy on those with mental health expertise, although there is a former Emergency Management and Homeland Security deputy and a former commissioner of public safety.

State Rep. Stephen Dargan, D-West Haven, said his controversial proposal to make the list of gun permit holders subject to the Freedom of Information Act may not move forward, but there will be more discussions on that.

"Basically I just wanted to have a discussion and if that was the way to get the dialogue going, I sure as hell got the dialogue going," Dargan said Wednesday after fielding more than 100 calls from constituents questioning the value of making that information public.

"It was worse than the income tax up here," Dargan said of the blowback.

A newspaper in Westchester County, New York has had to hire security and personnel there have received death threats after it published the list with a map showing households with guns.

"I was a little nervous this week. I had a conversation with the capitol police and the local police," Dargan said of the harsh response to his proposal. He said he hasn't requested protection.

"I'm a big boy. If something happens we'll have a great Irish funeral," Dargan said. "Everybody has to take a deep breath. I'm willing to talk to everyone on all sides of the issue."

Michael Lawlor, criminal justice liaison to Malloy, said they will look at states that have made this information public, some of which limit access. He said parents concerned that guns are available in a household where their children play, may be able to request that information, but not the whole list. He said hunting licenses are already public.

Sharkey said it will be important to thoroughly understand an issue before they act.

"If we take a number of actions that are what might be considered knee jerk reactions, we don't always know what the implications of that would be in the longer term," Sharkey said.

Malloy, in his state of the state address, was emphatic that arming school personnel is not advisable.

" ... more guns are not the answer. Freedom is not a handgun on the hip of every teacher, and security should not mean a guard posted outside every classroom," Malloy said.

The governor said the real solution has to come from the federal level as weapons from other states can easily make their way here. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said he will be working with state lawmakers as he proposed federal regulation of firearms. He has already proposed background checks for the purchase of ammunition.

Looney agreed with the governor on not turning schools into armed camps.

"That's not to say that we may need enhanced security, but ratcheting up the levels of guns in everyone's hands - that is not the solution," Looney said.

Lawlor said one thing under consideration is expanding the reasons why a person would be denied a gun permit or have a permit revoked to include those who engage in "reckless behavior."

On the mental health front, the controversial topic of out-patient commitment in Connecticut where persons with mental health issues would be ordered by the court to take their medications will be discussed , but it was unclear how far it might advance.

"We are going to have to look at that issue to try to provide for earlier interventions when people who are in need of care that they are not getting," Looney said of the concept that is in effect in 44 other states.

He said it might make sense to target that subset of people who already have been committed to a hospital multiple times or have repeated encounters with the criminal justice system and still fail to manage their chronic conditions.

Patricia Rehmer, who is the commissioner of Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, said imposing out- patient commitment, which depends on medication rather than other therapies, would cost millions that she feels could be better spent .

She said it is not the panacea that some might think that would have stopped the kind of massacre that Lanza unleashed.

State Sen. Beth Bye, D-W.Hartford, the first lawmaker to introduce legislation after the shootings, has a bill that would prohibit possession of any magazine with a capacity of more than 10 rounds, as well as ts the online purchase of ammunition and it requires a biennial renewal of gun registrations.

State Rep. Vincent Candelaria, R-N.Branford, was skeptical about limiting the size of magazines.

"I think limiting the size of magazines doesn't accomplish much of anything because people can reload a weapon. Substantively it doesn't get to the issue of public safety," he said.